Thanks for visiting. I DID IT! 

The Etape did not disappoint. Held in beautiful sunshine coupled with intense heat it was always going to stretch me to my limit - and it did!

11000 riders set off from Annecy and started some Alpine climbs which lulled us all into a false sense of security. Onto Mont Revard which is a category 1 climb (very hard) and my legs were starting to tire. However nothing prepared me for the final climb of Le Semnoz (so steep it's unclassified!) . It was unrelenting 11km of mountain road climb. Don't believe the average gradient of 8.5% here - it's much worse than that as the first km is relatively easy going. Amazing scenes of riders slumped by the side of the road in vast numbers. Many opted just to push their bikes up the hill for the entire distance. I'm very proud to say I was in neither of those those categories and slogged my way to the top. Can't remember ever being so fatigued, but very pleased nonetheless. Dont forget the Tour de France does exactly the same stage on Saturday 20th July so you can see the route the Etape took. Thanks to all of you who sponsored me - its was very kind of you all.

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